Something Cliché
by Evenaviwa
Summary: A fanficition and Mary Sue parody. Azula has assigned Zuko a chambermaid... A beautiful, powerful and mysterious chambermaid who will change him and the world of Avatar until the writer stops posting.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** We do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, any of the characters, places, nor plots that come along with it. We also do not own Indiana Jones, or other such things that are blatantly not ours, as we would have enough spare time to write something like this versus creating moneymaking things that benefit society.

The writers would like to make it clear that while this is a Mary Sue parody, it is not a direct parody of any story or group of specific stories. In fact, it was all conspired in a conversation between the two authors; all Sue-reading had been done long before the fact. If anyone finds this piece offensive, please note that nobody in particular was in mind while writing this with the exception of _stereotypical_ Mary Sue authors and _stereotypical_ Mary Sues.

**WARNING! **This story contains the mangling and, in some cases, outright destroying of character personalities, plot holes, dues ex machina, interruptions from beyond the fourth wall, and situations that are altogether very ridiculous. The authors are not responsible for any brain cells that may be lost or damaged during the reading of this tale.

- - -

Something Cliché

- By Vi and Eve

Chapter One

- - -

It was a bleak day when xXxZukoHartzMe4evaXxX discovered the wonders of the Internet. The second season of Avatar had just ended, there was no word on when the third season would come out, and in her desperation to find out what happened to her favorite show, and particularly her favorite character, she turned to _Avatar_ 'fanfiction'. She had been skimming through link upon links, chapter upon chapters of these stories for about two hours when something horrible was spawned in her mind.

She was going to write a love story. Not just any love story, but the story of two 'sole-mates(sic)' who she knew had to be together whether the writers of _Avatar_ thought of it or not. With any luck, thought xXxZukoHartzMe4evaXxX, the writers of Avatar would hear of her awe-inspiring tale and someday include it into cannon. She created an account on this very website, and thus, our story begins…

- - -

It had only been a week since Zuko rejoined his sister and the Fire Nation, and already he was feeling at home. Zuko looked down at a cup of water that Azula had given him. That is, she gave it to him because it was intended to be his drinking water _and_ bathing water. Of course, having known his sister since birth, he had become quite accustomed to this kind of treatment and took it in stride.

"Good morning, Zuzu," Azula greeted her brother with an all-but-friendly slap on the back of the head. "Getting along well, I hope?"

"Actually-"

Since she was not particularly interested in his answer, Azula lifted her leg and stomped on his foot, which she did simply because she was sadistic and evil, and the authoress had decided that it was very in character of her. Zuko once again took this in stride. Azula was quite put off when Zuko did not scream or flail about as most of her elite guards did when she stomped on their feet, and started to walk out of the room.

"Oh, and by the way," she started, turning around, "I took the liberty of finding a suitable chambermaid for you. She used to be our best gardener."

"So, then…" Zuko looked confusedly at Azula. "…why would you make her a chambermaid?"

"She enjoyed gardening too much," Azula said… evilly. "You can thank me later by turning all of your valuables over to me." She smiled mischievously and left the room. Zuko glared, but felt quite smug on the inside, knowing that he had no valuables to turn over, mainly because Azula and Ozai had burned them after he was banished.

He did not have to wait long for the chambermaid to show up. She was a sixteen year-old girl, about five-foot-two, with sparkling green eyes that shone with such brilliance that it was impossible to focus on anything else. Well, it would have been impossible to focus on anything else, if she did not have an unnaturally perfect body, with curves that made the standard, unattractive chambermaid uniform look like it could be worn by the wealthiest of the Fire Nation. Her raven hair danced past her shoulder blades in silky onyx waves upon her back. She continued to be described until this became one of the largest paragraphs in the entire story, which consisted mostly of pointless adjectives.

Zuko was attracted to her immediately for some odd reason, but of course, being as stubborn as he was, would probably not reveal this until at least chapter two. Zuko searched his mind for a greeting decent enough to use in the presence of such an impossibly gorgeous creature.

"Hi," he said.

The chambermaid, who did not seem to react strangely to Zuko's unique features at all, smiled and returned the greeting prettily. "My name is Marisu."

_Marisu. Why is that name so familiar?_ Zuko shook it off and proceeded to gawk at her. Marisu searched the room for something to do, but only found a cup of water and a poorly made cot.

"Nice room you have here," she commented.

Zuko looked around and suddenly felt embarrassed. After all, he had carelessly left his water in the middle of the room.

"Here, let me refill your cup for you." Marisu intended to do exactly that, and perhaps she would have succeeded, had she not prettily tripped over her other foot and spilt the water all over her uniform. Zuko flinched at this, knowing that because the water was from none other than Azula, the origins of it were questionable. Marisu apologized a number of times because she was humble like that.

"Oh, sorry, sorry!"

"Um, don't worry about it," he answered uneasily. "I wasn't planning on using any of that water anyway."

Marisu gasped. She was so overjoyed by his forgiveness that she grasped onto him. Zuko was rather shocked. He was caught between feeling rather happy that a pretty girl was hugging him, not reacting at all because he was stubborn and did not wish to reveal his feelings for her as previously stated, and pushing her away because she was all wet. He decided that being somewhat in character was a good middle ground, and so he did nothing but look embarrassed. He probably would have been annoyed too, had this not been Marisu he was dealing with.

She saw the look on his face and instantly let go, blushing. "My apologies, sir."

Zuko shrugged it off. "Don't worry abou-"

"It's just that no one has ever been so terribly nice to me," Marisu continued, ever-so-eager to tell him her life story, "You see, when I was just seven years old, I fell through a plot hole and landed just outside this palace. Even though I was not a citizen of the Fire Nation, I was told that I could live here, but it was nothing like I had imagined! They made me live in a broken oven and fed me only a slice of bread everyday. Upon my tenth birthday I had become old enough to work in the palace, but even then I continued to be physically and emotionally abused by the firebenders I served. It's wonderful to feel like I am finally appreciated," Marisu finished, looking truly grateful.

Zuko was surprised by how open she was about all this considering he was as much a firebender as anyone else in the palace, but in the meantime he tried to interpret what she had been explaining. "Plot hole?"

"Yes," Marisu frowned, "I don't remember what happened before that. I have amnesia." She then brushed the sad expression off and smiled at Zuko. "But how did we even get on to such a morbid subject? I'm sure your life here is wonderful."

He returned a spiteful glower to her. "Not exactly."

After that, words just seemed roll off of Zuko's tongue as if they had a mind of their own, and soon enough, he found himself telling his own life story to Marisu, despite the fact that he had only known her for an entire ten minutes. He told her everything from the story of his mother's disappearance, to the Angi Kai battle with his father (she asked him if his face 'hurt terribly' when he received the scar), his run-ins with the Avatar, to getting banished, right down to betraying his uncle to rejoin the Fire Nation. The whole story took several hours and a page or two to tell, or at least it would have if the authoress had not written it as only one paragraph. Marisu listened intently through almost all of it; the exceptions were, of course, when she would interrupt to give Zuko her sympathies or agree with him. However, the whole 'uncle betraying' part did not seem to sit right with her.

"But Zuko…" she said, even though he never said his name to her, "After all you went through with your uncle, you would just betray him like that?"

"Well…" Zuko had a sudden lapse of conscience, even more so than he normally would, because Marisu insinuated that he had done wrong.

"Don't worry!" said Marisu, suddenly concocting a plan, "I think I know how to set things right!"

Zuko raised his remaining eyebrow, "How?"

"Since we're in the Fire Nation palace, we can strike at them from the inside!"

Zuko was very taken aback. Not only was that suicide, but it was the best plan he had ever heard!


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** We do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, or any of the characters, places, nor plots that come along with it. We also do not own Indiana Jones, or other such things that are blatantly not ours, as we would have enough spare time to write something like this versus creating moneymaking things that benefit society.

* * *

**Chapter Two**

* * *

Night had fallen. It had been three hours since they had met, and Zuko and Marisu had been diligently planning their rebellion against the Fire Nation.

"Alright, so are we all clear with the plan then?" Marisu asked. Zuko nodded; it was his job to disable the guards if necessary, which it probably would be considering that the Fire Nation palace had the second best security next to Ba Sing Se. It was Marisu's job to get into the palace prison and by some means obtain the key to unlock Iroh's cell and make away with him, unarmed. Then Zuko, Marisu and Iroh would meet up in the palace garden and escape together. It was completely fool proof!

Later, Zuko climbed into the watchtower. "Hey you, sentry!" he called out. The sentry looked at him irritably, thinking it was just another lower-leveled watchman trying to distract him from doing his job. When he saw that it was Prince Zuko, he did not know what to think.

"Didn't you hear?" said Zuko, feigning annoyance, "Lord Ozai said that night-shift patrols aren't allowed to work today."

The sentry looked skeptically at him, "Hey, weren't you banished?"

Zuko hesitated. "…No."

The two stared silently at each other for a moment.

"Okay," shrugged the sentry, giving up.

This process was repeated for the remaining towers and in every hall Zuko passed through.

Meanwhile, Marisu reached the prison with all speed. Now the only thing left to do was find Iroh and the key. After a few minutes of searching, Marisu discovered a spare key under a conveniently placed doormat.

She ran back and forth between the cells until she came across an older man with gray hair and a beard. "Are you Iroh?" she asked, remembering Zuko's description.

"I am," he said, furrowing his brow.

"Great!" Marisu said, smiling, "You have to come with me." She began to unlock the cell when a shadow came upon her. She gasped; she had been found.

"Hey, you're not supposed to be down here!" said a guard, frowning angrily at Marisu.

"D-don't come any closer!" cried Marisu in an obvious panic.

The guard laughed, "Don't worry, you'll probably be down here again soon." He approached Marisu as she tensed and whimpered. As he entered the imaginary line of her discomfort, she threw her hands forward and let out a squeal. Fire rushed from her fingers and the guard went alight. He screamed as he transformed into a pillar of flame and ran off, illuminating the hallway and leaving a thick trail of smoke.

Marisu looked down at her hands in astonishment. (After all, this was quite a feat for a non-firebender, and even more so one that did not know squat about firebending.) She swung the door to Iroh's cell open and grabbed him by the wrist.

"Come on, Zuko's waiting for you!" She pulled him up the stairs before he could get a full word out.

- - -

"We're almost there," said Aang, cautiously steering Appa over the Fire Nation.

"I wonder if the rumors are true?" thought Katara out loud.

"The rumors about the guards at the Fire Nation palace?" Sokka said, because the scene needed exposure, "Well, they better be, since we'll be directly over it in a few minutes!"

"Yeah, we're making pretty good time," commented Katara. After all, they had been all the way over at the Earth Kingdom not more than a few hours ago. Rumors must have traveled _really_ fast in the Avatar world.

"I know that I can't tell exactly how fast Appa is going," frowned Toph as she held onto his fur for dear life, "But I know how big he is, so how come nobody's noticed us yet?"

…Nobody answered her.

- - -

"…And then, I fed all of the puppies to the gator-leopards!" Azula laughed manically as she sat upon her throne of evil, and one of her many servants cowered before her. The door across from her throne creaked open and Azula stopped telling her story so she could scowl dangerously at her visitor. He appeared to be a particularly blackened prison guard. His clothing and hair were thoroughly charred and he smelt strongly of smoke.

"What happened to _you?_" Azula scoffed.

The guard cleared his throat nervously and spoke, "Well, I was in the prison, and there was this girl unlocking one of the cells. I tried to stop her and she set me on fire."

Azula raised an eyebrow, "So, _why_ didn't you stop her?"

"Because…" he gulped, his knees trembling, "…I was on fire?"

"I see…" Azula's eyes narrowed, "Set on fire to getting fired. This must be a good day for you."

Nobody moved. There was a short silence. Azula's patience was tried enough.

"So get out of here, you moron!"

The guard turned and ran away from the throne room as fast as his shaking legs could carry him. Azula clenched her teeth. "Somebody's going to pay for this!"

- - -

"Look, Zuko! I found Iroh!" Marisu shouted happily as she crossed the threshold and entered the gardens.

Zuko turned and ran to meet her halfway. "Good job, Marisu." He looked ruefully at his uncle. Iroh looked as though he was about to say something when they were interrupted.

"Did you really think that you could get away with this?" Azula asked the trio as she stepped out from the shadows. Marisu gasped in horror, and Zuko stepped forward as if to defend her. Iroh remained still because xXxZukoHartzMe4evaXxX could not figure out something meaningful for him to do.

Azula smirked malevolently, "So, you told the guards to neglect their jobs, sprung my dear uncle from his imprisonment, and expected to just walk out the front door? You _do_ know that there are guards outside of the palace as well, don't you?"

Zuko and Marisu shuffled their feet. Perhaps they could have thought their plan through a little more. Iroh's palm met his forehead. Being the only smart one of the bunch, he realized what a mistake he made when he allowed Marisu to 'rescue' him.

"You guys are in _so_ much trouble," interjected another voice. As if on cue, Ty Lee and Mai sprung out from behind Azula and stalked over to them.

"Marisu, I want you to go find somewhere to hide until this is over," Zuko said protectively, even though it was spectacularly uncharacteristic of him.

Marisu looked horrified, "But-"

"Do as I say!" Zuko yelled. Marisu's bottom lip quivered, but she obeyed and ran off to hide.

Just as Zuko was about to have his butt handed to him, a flying bison fell from the sky and landed in the gardens. It appeared that Aang, Sokka, Katara, and Toph had decided to aid him, although why they would do such a thing when the whole of their relationship with Zuko consisted of non-friendly violence was anyone's guess.

"_Avatar_," Zuko seethed in italics.

"We don't have time for this!" Katara replied, obviously more aware than Zuko of what was going on around her. An unbelievably poorly written fight broke out between them. Water, fire, wind, rocks, fists, knives, and even the occasional boomerang were thrown around for half a page, accomplishing little with the exception of destroying various flora, fauna, and statues of the Fire Lord Ozai (which were all shrouded in shadow). Nothing consequential happened until a scream was heard from Marisu.

"Ah-ha!" Azula said triumphantly as she discovered the pouting girl hiding behind an exceptionally intact statue. Azula smiled once again as she uttered a rather anticlimactic, "I've got you now!"

"Marisu!" cried Zuko, except in type he said this in all capital letters, in addition to the fact that the vowels and exclamation points were in such quantity that a horizontal scroll bar appeared at the bottom of the window.

Just as Azula was about to take a strike at her, Marisu's eyes began to change from their normal brilliant shade of emerald green to an even more brilliant shade of glowing magenta. Her hair made this transition as well, and she began to rise from the ground in an obnoxiously bright sphere of glory. Everybody who wasn't completely blinded or blind to begin with gasped.

Katara looked over at Aang in shock and wonder, "Aang, that looks like-!"

She would have continued had there not been a huge gust of fire that created a swirling vortex above Azula. Azula shrieked like the whiney teen she was _not_ as she parted with the ground and began to get sucked in. As if the vortex was selective, Mai and Ty Lee were the only two who were sucked up as well before the strange portal dissipated.

Marisu's eyes and hair changed back to their normal (but still brilliant) colors. She fell gracefully from the sky until she hit the ground with an elegant and painful-sounding 'thud'. Zuko dashed over to her with freakishly legitimate concern and scooped her up into his arms. Aang and company did not see this because they were too busy discussing what had happened just moments before.

"Aang, did you see that?" Katara asked in awe, "She looked like-"

"Another Avatar," Aang said, nodding and strangely unfazed by this, "I know."

Toph frowned confusedly, "But I thought there was only one Avatar and he had to die and be reincarnated before another one could show up?"

…Nobody answered her.

"Hey, am I the only one who saw those three totally disappear?" shouted Sokka, waving his arms to get attention, "_Into thin air!_"

"That could only be some kind of plot hole," affirmed Iroh, who had mysteriously reappeared at this moment.

Suddenly, all further discussion was broken by the rather flustered calls of the rather flustered Prince Zuko, "Marisu! Marisu! Can you hear me?"

Marisu's eyes opened slowly and she smiled gently at Zuko, "Zuko... Zuko, I remember now," she whispered weakly.

Zuko shook his head, "Don't strain yourself, you need to rest." He stood up and carried her back to Iroh. As he walked by, he noticed that everybody's jaws had dropped in disbelief and, more so, horror at what they had just heard.

"…Maybe he has an identical twin brother," suggested Sokka, "One with the same scar, and the same name." Zuko starred daggers at Sokka in response, causing the latter's party to try to return to their own business.

"You know, Zuko," started Iroh cautiously, "Since the Avatar just did you a big favor by helping you two, you should probably keep that in mind and return the favor someday."

Zuko took a moment to think of what Iroh knew would be some kind of insulting remark, "I guess."

"Now, Zuko-" Iroh's would-be lecture stopped short. No retort? No debate? No rant about restoring his honor? Something was clearly wrong with his nephew. He furrowed his brow again and continued, "Since we already owe them, maybe we should ask them if it would be okay to join them on their travels." Certainly, Zuko would never have agreed to that.

"Do what you must," he answered.

Iroh stared blankly at Zuko. He stared blankly for a very, very long time.

"…I think I'll go sit down." Iroh walked a distance away from Zuko before sitting down on one of the destroyed statues, pondering what could have possibly gotten into the boy.

Zuko, who barely even noticed Iroh's reaction, continued searching for a suitable place to set Marisu. Once he had accomplished this task, he noticed that Katara was inching towards him.

"Um… Do you need help?" she inquired apprehensively, looking at Marisu.

Zuko's gut instinct was to refuse her, but Marisu was the most important thing right now. She was more important than his morals, previously established personality, and other pivotal facets of his character. He nodded to Katara and stepped away from Marisu. Katara healed her, but still kept a wary eye on Zuko just in case he planned to burn her hair off should she turn her back.

xXxZukoHartzMe4evaXxX's reputation as an author took a turn for the worst, but she had threatened the readers to give her reviews (or else) anyway.

* * *

**Authors' Note:** Poor Zuko... destroyed like this all for the sake of making fan fiction writers feel happy for their characters, or in this case, for historical(?) accuracy. Maybe this is his punishment for what he did at the end of season two?

...Naw, nobody deserves this.

We are open to all comments, compliments, and complaints if anyone is willing to share. Many thanks for reading this far... we know it was probably as painful to read as it was to write, but we still have three more chapters to go...


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** We do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, or any of the characters, places, nor plots that come along with it. We also do not own Indiana Jones, or other such things that are blatantly not ours, as we would have enough spare time to write something like this versus creating moneymaking things that benefit society.

**Authors' Note:** Please watch out for mischaracterizations, they are everywhere in this chapter.

- - -

**Chapter Three**

- - -

A large set of doors creaked open, sending a single strip of light into the poorly lit throne room of Lord Ozai, only to be reclaimed by the shadow of a tall, ominous-looking man. He approached the throne and bowed to his ruler, a grave look on his face.

"Sir, I come bearing ill news," the man declared solemnly. Since Ozai was not visible, one could only assume he looked up in response. "It seems," the man started again, "That your daughter has been consumed by a strange portal representing an instability in the plot."

"What?!" he returned with a sharp undertone of anger, "That's impossible."

"Believe what you will, my Lord," the man continued carefully, "But Azula is gone. Two other girls are reported to have vanished along with her. I also hear your son was at the scene."

Ozai tensed slightly and stood up. "That's ridiculous. That incompetent whelp could never defeat Azula."

"The Avatar was with them as well."

Ozai sat back down. "Which fools were on the patrol when this happened?"

"Well, all of the guards were taking the shift off, sir," the messenger reported sheepishly, "Apparently _you_ told them that they were forbidden to work that night."

The messenger winced, knowing how ridiculous that sounded. Surprisingly, there was no verbal outburst. Ozai's reaction was not visible, but the peon was sure that he must have been tightening his fists, narrowing his eyes, clenching his teeth, or something else to those effects.

"I've spared enough of my patience on that boy," Ozai growled in villainous rage, "He will be punished accordingly."

The messenger frowned, knowing all too well what kind of punishment Ozai had in mind, "Is he not your last heir, sir?"

Ozai remained tense, "I have no heirs." If there were background music, it would have made a crescendo as the scene changed.

- - -

"It was a Wednesday, in a very different place from this. It was a world without bending. My parents were archaeologists studying a place called ancient India and we were exploring some ancient ruins. We went much deeper into an old temple – one that they say is cursed – than any other parties. My parents told me that it was the opportunity of a lifetime. Little did they know, it would be the finale of their lifetimes.

"My father removed a gold statue from its resting place. He tried to replace it with a bag of sand, but the pedestal wasn't fooled! There was a strange rumbling, and next thing we knew, arrows were shot at us from all directions, which we narrowly avoided. We thought that was the end, however, another rumbling occurred. This time, a giant boulder was chasing us! I screamed as it crushed my parents under its enormous weight, but then I realized that I was next.

"Everything after that was a blur. I remember a flash of pink light and my terrified screams as a strange portal opened up above me. Next thing I knew, I was on the steps of the Fire Nation palace."

Marisu sobbed as she finished her tale, and Zuko looked down in sympathy.

"It's okay, Marisu. You don't need to be afraid anymore," Zuko assured. Sokka's eyes went wide and, even though there was already a fair distance between him and Zuko, climbed up Appa's back until he was between Katara and Toph.

"Hey!" Katara yelled, defending her place, "There's not enough space for you up here, Sokka! Go back to where you were before!"

"No way!" Sokka protested, "Do _you_ want to catch what he's got? If you're so concerned with space, why don't _you_ go back there? There's plenty of room."

Katara rolled her eyes. "So you say you're from another world, Marisu?" she asked Marisu quickly, ignoring her brother's complaints.

Marisu nodded. "I was called 'Krystyl' there."

"I know!" Aang said with very uncalled for enthusiasm, "There are two Avatars because you're the Avatar from your world!" Aang looked very proud of his deduction.

Marisu smiled. "Yes, that must be it!"

"So you're sure you're feeling better, Marisu?" Zuko asked hurriedly, as if he thrived off of Marisu's undivided attention. Iroh looked pensively at Zuko, continuing to observe his strange behavior with suspicion.

"Hai," Marisu replied. Zuko was about to be offended at what sounded to him like a greeting (an indication that she had not realized he was there), but thankfully xXxZukoHartzMe4evaXxX took this moment to make it clear that 'hai' is in fact the Japanese word for 'yes'.

As soon as Marisu and Zuko got involved in some kind of conversation, Toph turned to Katara, whispering, "So, _why_ is that Fire Nation guy and his girlfriend traveling with us?"

"I was wondering the same thing," Sokka uttered grudgingly.

Katara shrugged. "Well, if they're with us, they're not our enemies, right? Besides, firebenders could come in handy," she motioned to Aang.

Sokka groaned, but accepted this feeble explanation. Toph, however, was not satisfied with this answer and seemed to think Katara, of all people, would know better than that. "But what if they're planning some sort of attack and are just waiting for us to fall asleep or something?"

Toph was casually ignored, even after some attempts to regain Katara's attentiveness. She clenched her teeth and growled in frustration, but dropped the topic.

After a few more minutes of flying, Aang noticed that Appa was beginning bob over and under the clouds. Since Appa always comes first (after Katara), Aang searched the land below for a clearing large enough for Appa to land in, and soon discovered one not too far in the distance. It took only a few moments for the flying bison to reach the clearing, and soon all had set up camp and went to sleep, which was ostensibly very uneventful.

- - -

The next morning, Zuko had awakened to the smell of dirt, because it seemed that he had fallen asleep with his face to the ground… in the dirt, like he sometimes had before he was 'welcomed' back at the palace. He groaned and rolled over, only to crush a small animal that had been sniffing his clothes curiously. He recoiled in surprise and reflexively grabbed the creature.

Zuko had pulled out a shocked Momo who, as soon as he realized whose hands he was now constrained in, started to struggle frantically in Zuko's grasp. Zuko sneered irritably and hurled the flying lemur off to the side. Momo parachuted safely to the ground, and when the two of them were quite finished glaring at each other, Zuko stood up and examined his surroundings. He found that Sokka was still asleep, and that Aang was sitting no more than twenty feet from him.

"Oh, good morning, Zuko," Aang greeted him cheerfully.

Zuko's eyes narrowed. "Well, this is convenient, Avatar," he taunted. Aang blinked in confusion, but Zuko continued, "You just saved me the trouble of finding you." He looked as though he was poising himself to attack. Aang quickly stood up and stepped back, alarmed at the suddenness of this, but quickly got on his guard.

"Zuko!" called a sweet and tuneful voice from behind them. Zuko turned his head to see Marisu, Katara, Toph and Iroh returning to the camp with leaves and other such hopefully edible vegetation.

"Marisu!" Zuko called back with alien excitement in his voice as he walked up to her joyously. Aang was so staggered by the most recent change in Zuko's mood that he simply plopped himself back down on the ground, gaping in bemusement.

As they all put down their findings, Momo flew out of a tree and sniffed them inquisitively. Marisu gasped at him, suddenly excited.

"Omigosh, it's so kawaii!" Momo's ears fell at both the utterance of the word 'kawaii' and at the fact that Marisu was now approaching him. "Is he friendly? Can I pet him?" Momo's fur stood on end and he began hissing viciously at Marisu as if his animal instincts told him something the others did not know. Marisu gasped again, this time in distress.

"Momo, what's gotten into you!" Katara scolded. Momo scampered off, but continued to glare at Marisu distrustfully. Katara sighed. "I'm so sorry. He's not normally like that."

"That's strange…" Marisu mused, "Most animals love me."

Later, during the very colorful and romantic sunset, Zuko and Marisu went off on a walk. Aang decided that this was the ideal time to gather up the remaining party and hold an urgent meeting. He explained to them how Zuko behaved that morning after he woke up, and his sudden change of heart once Marisu had returned.

"Well, he hasn't been himself," Iroh said thoughtfully, "Not since he's been with Marisu."

"If he's so unpredictable, why should we keep letting him follow us?" Toph pointed out callously.

"Well…" Katara hesitated before continuing, "It's either they follow us, or fight us, right?"

"Let's take a vote," Sokka suggested, lifting his hand above his head, "Raise your hand if you would rather _fight_ Zuko!"

Toph raised her hand along with him. Everyone else glared at Sokka and Toph and decided to disregard Sokka's attempt at creating some kind of democracy.

Iroh stroked his beard contemplatively. "Well, I can think of one possible explanation…"

Aang turned to look at him, "What is it?"

Iroh smirked at him. "I'll tell you, but it's a little farfetched."

"That's okay, I think we're open to anything," Sokka remarked, still considering his 'rare disease' theory. Everybody leaned in to better hear the tale.

"There is a prophecy that has been passed down in the Fire Nation for many generations," Iroh began solemnly, "It speaks of the anti-Avatar, a girl from another world who will possess the sacred element of 'Plot'. She would use these powers of 'plotbending' to purge the world of all existing evil, but in turn, bestow upon the world an evil of her own."

"It definitely sounds like Marisu," commented Toph.

Aang bit his lip in reflection. "So you think she's using plotbending to make Zuko act like this?"

"She may not be doing it on purpose," broached Iroh, "It could just be a symptom of being near her."

"Shouldn't we do something about her, then?" Katara queried.

Iroh thought for a moment. "…No."

Sokka gave a sigh of relief, "So it'll just blow over soon?"

"No," Iroh admitted, "But if Zuko's not in any danger, then it would probably be better to have him distracted until you've stopped this war."

"Before we decide on anything, we should make sure that it wasn't a one-time thing," reasoned Aang. Katara and Iroh nodded.

"We should try to recreate the incident," Iroh proposed, "I'll take the same group out to find breakfast again tomorrow morning. We'll try to get back before trouble starts, but just in case, Aang and Sokka should stay behind to make sure my nephew doesn't do anything… rash."

Sokka felt rather gypped in this agreement because if they decided to ditch Zuko they would all have to fight him together verses just him and Aang, but he was the only one with a major qualm, and much to his dismay was again ignored.

- - -

"You haven't told me too much about your father, Zuko," Marisu said, which totally ruined the mood of the evening for her companion. Up until that point they had been having a very nice conversation about Marisu's world, when she had to mention his father. He was especially annoyed because she brought it up at a very random time and obviously only for the purpose of plot development.

"Not much to say, really," said Zuko, "He doesn't like me."

Marisu frowned. "Why would you think that?" He glared at her.

"…Oh," she replied, "I see." She looked up at Zuko with eyes that could only be described with a poetic metaphor, causing his expression to soften a little.

After a short moment of silence, Zuko opened his mouth in an attempt to change the subject, but Marisu spoke first. "Is your father scary?" She sounded rather simple-minded as she said this, but Zuko took it as an endearing trait, like she was innocent or something.

"I guess." he shrugged. "I've never actually seen him."

Marisu tilted her head. "But-"

"No, no, I've _seen_ him, but he's always shrouded in some kind of shadow," Zuko explained, scratching his head, "Either that or something conveniently covers his face. Azula used to joke that he did that because he was probably cross-eyed and no one could take him seriously while looking him in the face." Zuko forced a chuckle at this – how he would sound if he chuckled would have to be left to the imaginations of the readers – however Marisu neither found this amusing or informative. Zuko gave up on trying to explain it to her and decided it was a good idea to go back to camp.

The next few days went by similarly. Why they were all staying at one campsite for so long was unimportant. It was not like there were any special eclipses or a comets coming soon, after all.

In the meantime, Iroh put his plan into effect, and indeed, the results were the same. Zuko would relapse into familiar behavior when he was separated from Marisu, but changed again into the 'new' him when she was replaced. They even tried switching around some of the people in the 'breakfast-finding' group; however, Marisu seemed to be the only manipulating variable. Iroh thought it was about time he had a talk with his nephew after waiting a long while to speak to him alone.

"Zuko," he started, wondering how he would go about saying what need be said, "So… how's Marisu?"

"She's well," Zuko responded pleasantly, "Why do you ask?"

"You seem to be, uh… quite taken with her."

Zuko stared at Iroh. "What do you want, uncle?" he returned, less pleasantly now.

"Nothing!" Iroh assured nervously, "You just seem different around her, that's all." Zuko mumbled something under his breath, but Iroh could not quite hear it.

"It seems to me like you've given up on capturing the Avatar and restoring your honor?" Iroh tried.

"I don't care about what father wants anymore!" Zuko snapped, "The only honor I want is the honor of being with Marisu!" This caught Iroh off-guard, however Zuko did not seem to be aware of this as he walked away from Iroh to meet Marisu. She was waiting for him by the campfire with the others.

Iroh frowned disbelievingly. Not only was there something _wrong_ with his nephew… There was something _seriously wrong_ with his nephew.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: We do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, or any of the characters, places, nor plots that come along with it

**Disclaimer:** We do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, or any of the characters, places, nor plots that come along with it. We also do not own Indiana Jones, or other such things that are blatantly not ours, as we would have enough spare time to write something like this versus creating moneymaking things that benefit society.

- - -

**Chapter Four**

- - -

Marisu and Zuko sat conversing in front of the campfire. Zuko had lit it with firebending, which prompted Marisu to tell him the story of how she saved his uncle.

"I was horrified!" she said of meeting the prison guard, "And then I just threw my hands out in front of me, and suddenly he was on _fire!_ I mean, I've watched the military practice their firebending, but I've never really tried it…"

"You were afraid you would get caught?" Zuko asked comfortingly like many characters from romance novels that he was not. Marisu did not look up at him, but nodded.

"You'll get a chance to try it, Marisu," he assured, "I'll teach you how to firebend." Marisu's face lit up like Rockefeller Center at Christmas time.

"You would really do that for _me_, Zuko?" she asked happily. He nodded and she swiftly responded with a tight hug. Zuko did not wonder if he should pull away this time. Everyone else at the campfire scooted away from the pair in poorly masked worry.

Zuko woke Marisu up bright and early the next day to start her lessons. Unfortunately, Zuko's efforts were wasted, because Aang was already up to feed Appa and overheard Marisu say something about 'learning firebending'.

"Can I learn too?" Aang asked politely, holding back his excitement.

"No," Zuko uttered flatly, scowling at the less pretty Avatar. Aang glowered at Zuko before Marisu tapped him the shoulder.

"Don't worry, Aang," she whispered, "I'll teach you the firebending Zuko teaches me, but do you think you could teach me the other elements?"

"Yes," Aang said quickly. He regretted this shortly after, realizing that teaching Marisu the other elements may unleash an unknown evil upon the world. He did not bother taking it back, either, because he was too busy wondering how he would explain this to Katara.

Marisu approached Zuko again, "I don't understand why you dislike Aang and his friends so much, Zuko. I think they're nice!" Even an out-of-character Zuko had no response for such a declaration.

It took only a week for Marisu to learn firebending to the level that Zuko had achieved. Snatching the rare opportunity to learn firebending himself, Aang taught Marisu the remaining elements. Apparently it did not occur to him to ask Iroh to teach him firebending at all.

Zuko was amazed by the speed at which Marisu was learning and he made the unfortunate mistake of complimenting her one day. "At this rate, Marisu, it'll only take a year or two for you to learn how to bend lightning."

"Oh, you mean this?" Marisu said as she pointed her arm skyward, and swung it down in the direction of the pile of firewood. Electricity shot from her hands and the wood ignited. Zuko gawked in disbelief at her. Marisu smiled timidly.

"I did that by accident the other day. It really surprised me," she confessed. Zuko kept on gawking.

"Did you just make that lightning bolt, Marisu?"

"Wow, didn't you just start learning how to firebend last week?"

"You sure do learn fast!"

Anonymous voices of praise continued to call after Marisu. Zuko's astonished stare slowly turned into an envious scowl.

While all of the above was taking place, Toph asked if it was possible to even learn _basic_ bending that quickly, but everyone was too busy praising Marisu to notice and so her question was again unacknowledged.

- - -

Zuko sat unhappily, staring at the fire that Marisu had created earlier that morning. He had been thinking for a very long time and decided that he would be quite peeved with Marisu when she returned. She did just that not too soon afterwards.

"Hi, Zuko!" Marisu exclaimed in an irritatingly cheery voice. He glared up at her. Marisu, however, did not seem to notice, and continued, "I built you a statue with my earthbending!" She stepped aside to reveal a statue that had been so skillfully crafted that even Michael Angelo's work would be put to shame.

"I hate it," Zuko said tersely, now out of character in the other extreme. Marisu looked shocked at his harsh words.

"What's wrong with it?" Marisu defended, "It's magnificent in every regard, just like you!"

Now-mean-Zuko ignored her attempts at flattery: "Whatever." Marisu frowned.

"There's… something written on the plaque," Marisu said halfheartedly. Zuko looked, curious to see its contents. It read, _'I love you Prince Zuko – Marisu,' _in loopy, elegant script.

"What do you think?" asked Marisu anxiously.

Zuko glowered. "Thanks."

Marisu gasped. Her immensely described emerald eyes looked as though they were on the verge of shedding immensely described diamond tears. "But… Don't you love me too?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm stubborn, and even I did love you, I wouldn't say it to your face, okay!" Zuko shouted bluntly. Marisu's bottom lip quivered and she ran off, covering her face in shame. Zuko immediately regretted what he had just said. "Wait, Marisu!" he called after her, "I didn't mean it!" He ran after her for a short while, but she was much to fast and graceful for him.

Marisu ran into the shelter of the woods, fell to her knees, and cried through the entire page it required to include the lyrics to some break-up song that the readers probably already knew the lyrics to, since the radio had already beaten them over the heads with it.

Katara, who was coincidently looking through that part of the woods for lunch, came upon her. She cautiously advanced toward the fretting maiden, considerate enough to talk to her in her time of grief. "Marisu, did something happen?"

In her hysteria, Marisu responded with something totally unreadable due to the numerous misspellings, unnecessary capitalization, and other dire grammatical errors. Katara sat down next to her, teeth clenched in apprehension, and patted Marisu on the back. "It's okay; calm down."

Marisu sniffled as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "Zuko is a big fat jerk!" she wailed.

Katara nodded in agreement. "I know, I know." Katara as well seemed to forget that Marisu was potentially evil and continued to comfort her. "You're just too good for him, that's all."

"No! _He's_ too good for _me!_" Marisu sobbed, "Zuko-kun is the most kind, handsome, warm-hearted, smart, loving, affectionate, compassionate, best fighter there ever was, and I'm just not good enough!"

Katara frowned, not sure that Zuko was _any_ of those things, and she was puzzled as to just what kind of pet name 'Zuko-kun' was. "I guess you think very highly of him, huh?"

"Why wouldn't I?" Marisu sniffed again, looking up at Katara.

Katara sighed, "Look, Marisu. I don't know what has happened to him since he met you, but he has a bit of a reputation."

Marisu frowned in confusion. Katara opened her mouth to explain further.

_"No!"_ shouted Sokka from behind a few rows of trees as he realized Katara was talking to the source of recent abnormalities. He ran towards his sister, hoping that it was not too late to save her, when it suddenly occurred to him that Marisu could hear anything he could possibly say to warn her. "Erm, hey, Marisu!"

Marisu sniffled and turned her head shyly. Sokka gave Katara a stern look. "Katara, remember that _thing_ you had to do? The _really important_ one?" Katara rolled her eyes at him.

"Sorry, Marisu," she sighed, "But Sokka's right, I have to go. Don't think too much about what Zuko said, okay?"

Marisu wiped her eyes and nodded.

- - -

After a long morning of gathering various flowers, leaves, and barks for his tea-making experiments, Iroh finally believed that he had created a concoction that was both edible and flavorsome. He put the pot of tea over the fire, and sat down on a nearby stone to wait. Having at least another few minutes to ponder, Iroh stared down at the puddle of numerous teas that he had been forced to dispose of because of a single incongruous ingredient. He sincerely hoped that this one would not be the same, because he was getting quite tired of sampling the putrid liquids.

He was still thinking about this when he realized that his tea was about to boil over. He sprang from his resting place and dislodged the pot from the above the flames. He sighed in relief, discerning that nothing had spilled over, and sat down again to pour himself a cup.

"_Uncle!_" Zuko leaped out from behind tall shrubberies not ten feet to Iroh's right. In his alarm, Iroh had spilt his cup of tea all over the ground. He heaved a sigh in exasperation. Zuko did not realize this, as usual, and kept on talking, "Marisu's gone! I've made a mistake!"

"What kind of mistake?" he responded, not surprised.

"A bad one!" Zuko replied. He was not feeling very original at the time. "I refused her affections and she ran off. I didn't know that she…" Zuko trailed off and hung his head in despair.

Iroh nodded solemnly. "Well, if you don't feel the same way about her as she feels about you, then perhaps it is better this way, as long as you were polite."

"No, Uncle! I _do_ feel the same way! That's the problem!" Zuko bleated passionately.

Iroh had almost spilt his tea again as he poured himself another cup. Nothing else coming to him, he was left with but one thing to ask, "Then why did you deny her?"

"Oh, I don't know," Zuko said more to himself than to his uncle, "I guess I was just jealous of her. She knows how to bend lightning already and I was supposed to be her teacher! It's just not fair, she's too perfect!"

"It certainly seems that way." Iroh frowned, sipping his tea. To his relief, it was much better than the others he had made that morning. "If you have any uncertainties about her at all, perhaps you should consider leaving Marisu to herself for now."

"It's not that. I… I just don't deserve her!" Zuko whined. Iroh choked on his tea as he tried to comprehend such nonsense. Zuko furrowed his brow. "Are you okay, Uncle?"

"Fine, fine," Iroh coughed, "But what if she's using her plotbending to influence-"

"-Plotbending!" Zuko exclaimed, affronted by this accusation. "Uncle, do you think that Marisu is the girl from that stupid prophecy?" The ire was very strong in his voice. Iroh could not believe that he had said what he had aloud.

Zuko did not end the tirade there. "How could you suggest that Marisu would ever do anything so unspeakable, you superstitious old man!"

While Iroh felt as though his feelings should be hurt at Zuko's outburst, they were not. He was not even sure if he was truly dealing with his nephew anymore, and while he was concerned for Zuko, he tried not to smile because the thought of him saying this at any previous point would have been laughably ridiculous. Zuko must have noticed that Iroh was amused, because he became even more outraged and shouted even louder.

"It's not funny, Uncle! Marisu is the most kind, beautiful, warm-hearted, smart, loving, affectionate, compassionate, best fighter there ever was, and I love her!"

"Z… Zuko."

Zuko turned his head towards the source of the familiarly melodic voice. Marisu was watching them from the side of a conveniently blooming tree. Its warm yellow blossoms sinking to the ground around her delicately flawless frame only made the sight of her even more breathtaking. Her clear, shining emerald eyes looking intensely at him, brimming with deep and genial emotion. Her glossy raven hair flowed gently in the subtle, fragrant breeze. A sweet smile was tugging at the corners of her slightly parted rose-colored lips, and as sad as it was, both this paragraph's length and relative insignificance eventually outstretched that of the one describing Marisu in the first chapter.

Zuko's expression brightened melodramatically. "Marisu!" The two ran for each other, arms open. They met in a loving embrace, Marisu's face buried into Zuko's chest, and Zuko leaning his head over her shoulder. It was a bizarre sight to behold. So bizarre, in fact, that Iroh had to look away to stop his head from spinning.

"I knew you loved me, Zuko, I just knew it!" Marisu cried, looking into his golden eyes.

"Don't you ever think otherwise, Marisu," Zuko replied wholeheartedly. xXxZukoHartzMe4evaXxX must have been more talented than she was given credit for, because she claimed she could imagine him saying phrases like these in all seriousness.

"How touching," an ominous voice answered in a typical villainous fashion. Zuko looked up at the source, shoving Marisu behind him protectively. The cliffhanger commenced.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** We do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, or any of the characters, places, nor plots that come along with it. We also do not own Indiana Jones, or other such things that are blatantly not ours, as we would have enough spare time to write something like this versus creating moneymaking things that benefit society.

**Authors' Note:** Ah, the finale. Like we said in the first chapter, this story cannot end well. In fact, we would recommend preparing for the worst.

- - -

**Chapter Five**

- - -

A shadowy figure could be seen among the shades of the foliage. He emerged from the wood's edge dauntingly and stepped out into the open, a glare from the sun making it impossible to see his face.

"How did you find us here, Father?" Zuko spat angrily, using all of the newfound courage Marisu had given him. Yes, although Ozai would normally send his lackeys to perform such tasks, this situation was somehow different and thus required Ozai to appear in person. Marisu tried to catch a glimpse of the Fire Lord in frightened awe.

"If you stay in one clearing for half a month, someone is bound to find you," Ozai stated. Zuko thought this was logical, after thinking about it some.

"I've come to make you pay for what you've done to my daughter," continued the Fire Lord mechanically.

Marisu stepped out from behind Zuko. "He didn't do anything to Princess Azula! If you have to punish anyone, it should be me." Zuko's eyes widened in shock and horror as Marisu stepped closer to the Fire Lord. "You must be Lord Ozai."

Ozai did not react, which only increased Zuko's stress level. Marisu, however, took this as an invitation to keep speaking. "I don't know what you think gives you the right to be so mean to everyone! Millions of people and poor Zuko are angsty because of you!"

Zuko slammed his palm into his face.

Ozai might have smiled wickedly, but did not react otherwise. Zuko looked out from between his fingers, curiously. Marisu was grinning in triumph. "See, you don't even have an excuse. You're just a big bully, but you're a coward on the inside and you can't stand up to people who stand up to you!" For a second, Zuko thought his brain stopped functioning, however he soon came to realize that Marisu had in fact said those words.

A smile was in Ozai's voice when he spoke. "Actually, I was waiting to see how severe I should make your punishment." Marisu frowned immediately. She thought she was beginning to reform him.

Zuko grabbed Marisu by the wrist and turned to run into the shelter of the forest with her, but Ozai refused to let them escape and launched a series of fireballs in their direction. Though they all missed their supposed targets, they set the woods ablaze, trapping them in a fiery arena. In anger, Zuko clenched his teeth and charged at Ozai in some insane attempt to do him harm, but Ozai quickly countered him with a swing of his arm and a wave of fire. Zuko's body slammed against a boulder, causing Marisu to gasp in trepidation. Zuko stood up again, using the boulder as support.

Ozai, who still could not be seen due to the many shadows created by the flames, kicked Zuko in the side and laughed manically much like his daughter. Zuko fell to the ground in pain and anguish.

"No!" Marisu shouted in her worry for Zuko. Her eyes and hair began to glow bright pink. Ozai turned, stunned.

"No, it cannot be!" Ozai cried in histrionic disbelief, "There is only one Avatar!"

Marisu floated toward him, her glowing pink eyes narrowed in rage. Suddenly, she created a wall of water, fire, rock and wind, all held together with the power of plot, and sent it flying at Ozai with incredible force.

Ozai fell to the ground, then got up again even angrier, and – even though at this critical moment he contemplated calling for the aid of his lackeys – started the motions of firebending with every intention of destroying Marisu. He was too late; a swirling vortex was already beginning to materialize overhead, and Ozai's feet parted from the ground. In a last effort to do her in, he created a large fireball and hurled it toward her. As he disappeared into the portal, Marisu was smothered by the flames and fell from the sky.

The injures Zuko acquired from being burned and kicked disappeared instantaneously as he sprung from beside the boulder and dived to Marisu's rescue. He winced as her full body weight crashed down upon him, but he did not mind. "Marisu?" he asked, gently.

"Zuko…" Marisu gasped faintly in vain attempts to keep her eyes open. "I'm so sorry…"

"Sorry?" Zuko frowned. "No, Marisu, it's good that he's gone. We can be together now."

"No, Zuko…" Marisu breathed again, albeit weakly. "I don't think I can go on much longer, I feel so weak… I just wanted you to know… how much I love you…"

Zuko's eyes widened in tearful disbelief. "Marisu, no! Don't speak, save your strength!"

"It's okay, Zuko… I won't die until my speech is finished."

"Then keep talking!" Zuko cried, "Talk about our love! Describe it every way you can!"

"No, it doesn't work that way," Marisu whispered, "I can feel it… Cold death is upon me, its frigid arms caressing me in a ghostly embrace…"

"_I'm_ caressing you, Marisu!" Zuko choked out as allegorical rain began to pour from the sky.

Marisu looked up at him with dieing eyes. "Your hands are very cold." Her eyelids began to close like a velvet curtain over her once brilliant gaze.

"Hold on, Marisu!" Zuko yelled desperately, "Please, you can't leave me yet, it's too soon!"

Her delicate figure, somehow not noticeably damaged by the fire that had killed her, went limp in his apparently cold arms. He sobbed like a lonely little girl that had been forgotten at a playground on a rainy day. He regretted not stopping Ozai. He regretted not stepping in and taking credit for Azula's disappearance. He regretted not taking CPR lessons. Everything in his entire life that could have remotely contributed to Marisu's death was immediately on Zuko's conscience as he bawled his eyes (or eye?) out over her.

"Zuko!" someone yelled. He looked up from Marisu, glorious even in death, to see that Iroh had in fact mysteriously evanesced in the beginning of the chapter to go find help. The fire that the woods had been on had been put out incredibly fast, or was sucked up in Marisu's plot hole.

"Zuko, what's happened here?" Katara asked, noticing the thoroughly charred trees and undergrowth, and then Marisu. "Is… she okay?"

Toph shook her head. "Her heart is stopped."

"What do _you_ care?!" Zuko yelled in sorrowful rage, facing Katara, "If you were so concerned, you would've been here to heal her!"

Katara studied Marisu for a moment. "There aren't any wounds to heal."

"_Shut up!_" Zuko yelled before adding a string of explicit metaphors that were much too graphic for the rating Zuko was created to stand under. Katara, who was not sure if she should feel sorry for or angry with him, simply took a step back and acted sad for her deceased acquaintance. Zuko then turned his head toward Aang. "And _you_," he seethed, "Some Avatar _you_ are! How are you supposed to save the world when you couldn't even be here to save Marisu!"

"…You're right. I'm sorry," Aang responded sincerely, now feeling truly responsible for Marisu's untimely demise.

"You _should_ be sorry!" Zuko cried.

Katara's eyes narrowed and she took a step toward Zoku. "Hey, quit picking on Aang! He wasn't even-!"

"And you!" Zuko said, totally ignoring Katara and pointing at Toph and Sokka, "You were useless from the start!" Toph and Sokka were both very insulted and considered attacking the former Prince, until he started sobbing uncontrollably in front of all of the lot of them and they lost their nerve.

Iroh approached his nephew carefully and placed his hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Zuko. I know she meant a lot to you." When Zuko did not respond, Iroh continued, "I know how it feels to lose someone dear to you. But we move on."

"_No!_" Zuko shrieked as he decided how useful italics were when it came to illustrating his current emotions, "I don't want to move on! Not without her!"

Iroh frowned deeply, losing hope that with Marisu's death would also end the effect of her plotbending on Zuko's brain. He stepped slowly backward until he was with the others.

In the midst of this, something wonderful and impossible happened. Zuko's tears of sorrow, combined with the readers' tears of joy at Marisu's death, collected in shining sparkles above Marisu's body and began to rain down upon her in a rainbow of miracles, filling her lungs with air, her skin with its original hue, and the sky with sunshine. Just as he looked down at her, her eyes fluttered open, the emerald restored in them.

"Zuko?" she cooed jadedly. Zuko's expression lit up.

"Marisu!" he called in rapturous relief, pulling her to him in a meaningful hug.

Everyone else frowned in complete and utter confusion.

"So… how is she alive again? What just happened?" Toph questioned before remembering that such an effort was probably futile, even though everyone else had clearly noticed that Marisu was revived through impossible and fourth-wall breaking means. She refused to have it this time and addressed her comrades again, "Hello? Hello! Being blind doesn't mean you can't see _me!_" She inhaled loudly before letting out another ear shattering, "_HELLO!_" Sokka, who was closest to her, flinched and covered his ears.

"C'mon, Toph! Was that really necessary?" he shouted irately, prompting everyone around her to shake his or her heads at Toph disapprovingly. Toph huffed loudly and crossed her arms.

"Zuko," Marisu said to her sweetheart, already having been out of the spotlight for too long, "I want to try something." Zuko looked puzzled but leaned in towards her, and she pulled him into a passionate kiss. As he pulled away, a cooling sensation started to spread down the left side of his face. He reached up to touch it out of curiosity, only to find that the scar had been healed with the powers of Marisu's plotbending! All the readers who tried to prepare a constructive critique up to this point suddenly did not know where to begin anymore. The weak of heart fell into a coma.

"But how?" Zuko asked, amazed and more infatuated with Marisu than ever before.

Marisu smiled, taking a quick glance at Toph. "Some questions are better left unanswered."

Aang and company eventually moved on with their lives and tried to follow canon as best as possible under the unfortunate conditions that Marisu was now in the starring role.

Iroh spent the rest of his life wondering if there was anything he could have done to get between Marisu and his emotionally reformed nephew, and whether or not that would have been the right thing to do.

Azula, Mai, Ty Lee and Ozai were actually transported to the 'world without bending'. Mai became a professional stunt double in big-name movies, Ty Lee became an Olympic gymnast, and Azula became a clown, which in this incarnation she actually enjoyed very much since clowns are obviously the most evil things ever. Ozai was sent to an institution for the mentally unstable after insisting to everyone that he was king of the 'Fire Nation' and proving to the local law enforcement that he was quite dangerous. He ended up not minding, because it was rather dark in solitary confinement and nobody was able to see his face.

Marisu and Zuko, who became the new Fire Lords, worked together to stop the war, get married, have twelve beautiful children who were all intolerably perfect like their mother, and generally destroy _Avatar_ as we know it. In fact, this story was supposed to continue and describe all of that in detail, but for some reason this was the last chapter to get posted. Maybe it was because xXxZukoHartzMe4evaXxX did not feel like writing the remaining chapters. Maybe it was because she got a flame or possibly even a review enclosed with well-mannered constructive criticism, and it was such a hard blow to her confidence that she had to take the story down and write notes about how upset she was in her profile. Or maybe the administrators took it down because of the 'improper use of grammar' or script format.

xXxZukoHartzMe4evaXxX stayed on this website. Years after deciding that she should look into what the difference was between good and bad writing, xXxZukoHartzMe4evaXxX, under a different penname, went on to write relatively reputable fan fictions that focused wholly on canon characters, and eventually moved on to write decent original fiction. She was forever ashamed of this story and to this very day, pretends she never posted it online.

The End.


End file.
